Ukrainian National Anthem Cello Project

To quote the University of Oxford, we at the Cello Museum

“are appalled by Russia’s action and in awe of the bravery shown by Ukrainians as well as the bravery of those Russians who have denounced their government’s aggression.”

Cellists for Peace

There is a long tradition of cellists working for peace. The great cellist and peacemaker Pau Casals once said,

“The cello is my only weapon.”

Cellist Mstislav Rostropovich played at the Berlin Wall. Yo-Yo Ma is a UN Messenger of Peace.

Continuing this tradition, we created the Ukrainian National Anthem Cello Project so that cellists of all levels could help work for peace and show support for Ukraine.

We Asked Cellists to Join Us in Playing the Ukrainian National Anthem

Inspired by the bravery Ukrainians have shown amid adversity and the horrors of war, the Cello Museum put out a call asking cellists of all levels to record themselves playing the Ukrainian national anthem to show our moral support for Ukraine.

Over 225 cellists responded from around the world, and 146 are represented in the following video. Below is a map showing the locations of cellists you will see in the anthem video.

“Ukraine is my life!”

A professional cellist from Ukraine, Vladyslav “Vlad” Primakov, registered for the project with the message, “Ukraine is my life!” We spoke with Primakov via Zoom at the end of March. The final video for the project includes excerpts from this interview along with the performance of 146 cellists.

Read the full interview with Primakov.

Ukrainian National Anthem Cello Project Video

The video for this project premiered on Sunday, 24 April 2022 at 1 PM EDT (New York time) on both YouTube and Facebook.

Join us and listen as we lift the voices of our cellos in a cry of solidarity with all who long for peace, and consider making a charitable donation to support those in need.

#cellistsforpeace #celloforpeace

Please Make a Donation Directly to Charity

Please donate directly to the charity of your choice. Here are three suggestions.

Help People in Ukraine:

The volunteer organization where Vlad is volunteering. To see photos of Vlad and the team in Ukraine loading up vans of supplies to distribute within Ukraine, please read our interview with him.

Help Refugees:

International Rescue Committee – One of the authors from our Cello Book Club, Hilary Wang, donates all profits from her book, The Enchanted Cello Case, to the IRC. When the war started in Ukraine, we researched charities and found that the IRC has an outstanding rating with Charity Watch and keeps its administrative costs to a minimum. Learn more about the IRC on its website and check its rating here.
Core Response – We’ve been impressed with the work Core Response is doing to help refugees.

Thank You

Laura Sam Audio/Video Design and Editing
Brenda Neece Project Manager, Graphic Design
Renate Kwon Storyboard, Text Editing, Communications
Gill Tennant Project Idea, Music Arrangement, Publicity
Vladyslav Primakov Anthem Advising
Kathryn Whitney Project Submission Advising

Thank you to all of the cellists who participated in this project. Thank you to cello teachers who involved their students as well. Thank you to everyone who helped spread the word about this project.

Read the full interview with Vlad Primakov.

Interviews of other cellists in the video:

Free PDFs of the Ukrainian National Anthem Sheet Music

Get several other arrangements by Vlad Primakov here.

Get Gill Tennant’s arrangement used in this video here.

Press Release

Click here for the press release.

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